


With This Ring

by auselysium



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, Top Aaron, explicit - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 20:25:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3783271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auselysium/pseuds/auselysium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron holds Robert’s wedding ring between his teeth for a moment, giving them both the chance to take a good long look.  Carefully, Aaron takes the ring from between his teeth, looks at it once more then back down at Robert.</p><p>“The things I want to do to you tonight,” Aaron says, surprised by the perilous edge in his own voice.  “I won’t be doing them to someone’s husband.”  Aaron closes his hand around the ring, gesturing with his fist for further emphasis.   “I’ll be doing them to my lover.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	With This Ring

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a post on tumblr about seeing Aaron take Robert's wedding ring off with his teeth. 
> 
> They are in a good place here, even though Robert is still married.

Now, there is stillness.

Before, there had been the rush and the panic of two bodies who are naturally drawn together but are too often kept apart.  Before, the too-long wanted brush of lips had been tantamount to any other use of those lips besides encouraging smiles and an escape route for breathy sighs.  Before, there had been the frenzied devesting, the shameless moaning, the heated climax coming too soon, giving them just enough to take the edge off but not nearly enough to quell the need seated in their loins but growing from around their heart that will compel these bodies to find each other in places like this again and again.  And again.

But now, there is repose.   

Now, Aaron’s limbs are quiet, bone-heavy and spent, sinking into the mattress below.  His mind is peaceful, too.  Finding clarity in the quiet, rest from its ceaseless spinning mess.

Robert’s breath comes slow and steady, brushing across his chest with each exhalation.  His hand is warm across Aaron’s bare hip, his leg slung over Aaron’s thigh.  He may have fallen asleep, Aaron can’t tell and he doesn’t dare move to look. Instead, he threads his fingers through the ends of Robert’s hair, twisting the soft blond locks at the nape of neck around his forefinger and thumb.  

Here in the afterglow, they are a world unto themselves, one that can only be fully understood from within.  With Robert resting in his arms, he is not his bit on the side.  He is not the leftover scraps of Robert's married life but the center of a universe they create in the infinite space within the four corners of the hotel room.  Whenever they are here, wherever that "here" may be,  it is enough.  The fact that those closest to him will never understand that is something Aaron stopped caring about a long time ago.

A sudden crush of love clenches Aaron’s chest.   He cups the back of Robert's head tenderly,  pressing his lips to his brow, letting the kiss linger until he can dampen down the tightness in his throat and the tingling in his eyes.

Robert's head drifts off Aaron’s chest, eyes blinking softly at him.  He stretches, arching his shoulders back, and yawns.  

"It got dark."

The light of another summer day has given way to night without them noticing.   The room now is nearly black aside from the lights from the city beyond that filter in through the sheer curtains covering the long window across the far wall.

"It does that you know, most nights."

Robert grins at him.  "Cheeky."  

He sits, reaching over to switch on the bedside light, pulling on the long silver chain.  The warm glow of the halogen lamp comes to life, throwing shadows across the rippled muscles of Robert’s arms, catching the metallic glint of the ring on his hand.

Even in this little oasis, there is that constant intruder.

"So," Aaron says, clearing his throat.  Robert puts his phone down back where he had picked it up, momentarily.  Whatever he saw there could clearly wait.  He turns his attention back to Aaron, sitting facing him, hip to hip.  "You been alright?" 

An amused smile works across Robert’s face as he realizes they hadn't even made it through such simple pleasantries before tumbling together on the bed.  

"Long day,” He says as his shoulders slump with the weight of this answer.  “I had a meeting with one of the tenants that just went on and on.  He would not stop let up about something called rotational farming.  Evidently it’s become quite the thing in the States and he was insistent we try it and then Chrissy.  God Chrissy would not get out of my way today.”

At the sound of the name, Aaron's eyes flare with resentment before dropping to examine edge of the duvet cover.   

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Robert says once then again even more intently, eyes pinching in at the sides as he notices his slip.  He scoots closer to Aaron, his hand coming to rest on the mattress next to Aaron’s far hip.  “You know it’s hard sometimes to just switch all that off when I’m with you.”

“You don’t have to switch it off,” Aaron says with a shrug.  “But can we maybe not talk about her when we’re sat here naked after we just…” He tips his head down towards the bed.  “You know.”

A slow smiles lights up Robert’s face and when he speaks, his voice is low and laced with promise.  “Yeah, I know.”  Aaron blushes.  

“Besides,” Aaron begins again, “It’s not like either of us are trying to pretend she doesn’t exist.”

“Right,” Robert says, resigned.  He lifts his left hand to cup Aaron’s cheek, his thumb brushing over the faint stubble at his jaw.  His fingers trail along Aaron’s neck, coming to rest against his collarbone.  “But when but when I'm with you, I want to be with you.  I don’t want to be thinking about anything else.”

Aaron covers Robert’s hand with his, lacing their fingers together over his heart.  He can feel the circle of metal, warm from Robert’s skin pressing against his finger, staking its claim on the man he loves.  A slow thought begins to take shape in Aaron’s mind, a long fantasized about story unfolds step by step and the beating organ in his chest begins to pump harder

“You mean that?”  Aaron asks with sudden intensity.  A crease forms between Robert’s brows.

“Course I do,” he states.

And with that, Aaron crashes their mouths together into a searing kiss, never letting go of the hand clenched in his.  He learned early on that this - as Robert’s free hand finds the base of Aaron’s skull - is how Robert likes to be kissed.  Messy and a little bit rough.  There is a time and a place for kisses that linger softly, but now, as the heat of the moment begins to rise, is the time for open-mouthed indulgence.   

Aaron’s reaches for the small of Robert’s back, his palm landing wide and warm.  Using the kiss as fulcrum point he pushes Robert back, easing him back against the bed, crawling over his legs and into his lap.  He takes the hand from his face and holds Robert’s wrists against the bed on either side of his head.

Aaron sits back, giving himself several steadying breaths worth of time to let his eyes wander over every rise and fall of Robert’s body, to take in the image of Robert here in the subjected position beneath him, memorize the way those pale blue eyes drip dark with anticipation.

There is not one inch of him Aaron hasn’t explored.  No place has been off limits to each other, no act shied away from.  Robert is brazen when he is with Aaron.  Unafraid to take his pleasure, speak the true feelings of his heart, be who he truly is at his most private core.  And in some ways, Aaron has come more into his own sexuality more with Robert than Jackson or Ed combined.  Not his inborn homosexuality, but his own sensuality.  He has fallen so easily into Robert’s unabashed sexual world, finding the bravery to demand, to risk, to want, to take, and to give.

Is it any wonder he fell in love with him in the process?

Robert’s breaths are short and shallow, his cock hard again.  Aaron can feel it pulsing against the swell of his ass.  He watches Aaron intently, waiting.  Ready.

“Oh Robert,” Aaron growls, grinding his hips.  Robert’s eyes flutter, a moan forming deep in his chest.  His fingers clench against the air so Aaron gives them something to hold onto, sliding his fingers between his, lowering his body so he can breathe his words against Robert’s lips. “The things I want to do to you tonight.”  

“God, Aaron,” Robert pants, eyes clenched tight.

Aaron lets go of Robert’s right hand, taking the other carefully into his hand.  A light brush of his fingers to Robert’s cheek and his eyes blink open.  He wants Robert to be fully aware of what Aaron is about to do.

He kisses each and every one of Robert’s knuckles, placing each kiss carefully, watching his work like an artist might, occasionally stopping, stepping back to examine his progress.  By the time he reaches Robert’s third finger, Aaron’s kisses, which had started chaste and almost reverent, are now open-lipped, his tongue leaving a wet trail in it’s wake against his hand.

Holding Robert’s gaze with unwavering focus, he slips the tip of Robert’s ringed finger past his lips, bringing his tongue up to press against the underside, treating it much the same way Robert had treated Aaron’s cock earlier that day.  He opens his throat as his guides Robert’s finger deeper into his mouth.

The metal clinks between his teeth, locking in place, the ring unyielding around skin.  He luxuriates along the length of his finger as the ring gives way, sliding over his knuckle before coming all the way off.

Aaron holds Robert’s wedding ring between his teeth for a moment, giving them both the chance to take a good long look.  Carefully, Aaron takes the ring from between his teeth, looks at it once more then back down at Robert.

“The things I want to do to you tonight,” Aaron says, surprised by the perilous edge in his own voice.  “I won’t be doing them to someone’s husband.”  Aaron closes his hand around the ring, gesturing with his fist for further emphasis.   “I’ll be doing them to _my_ lover.”

Robert’s breath catches in his chest.  “Your lover?”  He repeats in a whisper.  He brings his hand to cup Aaron’s jaw, his thumb pressed to Aaron’s parted lips.  “Yeah,” he breathes, nodding his head back against the duvet cover, as if deciding in that moment he likes the way that sounds.

Aaron places the ring carefully on the bedside table.  He might not want it on Robert’s finger tonight, but he certainly doesn’t want him to lose it either.  He grabs the bottle of lube and a condom, knowing he’ll have need of them soon.

Maybe it is because they can only be together like this every so often.  Or maybe it’s because Robert will admit that he loves Aaron but still won’t admit that he’s gay.  Or maybe it’s because of that part of Aaron who is completely certain that if he were able to offer Robert the same kind of status and lifestyle that his marriage with Chrissy does, there would be no chance he’d still be with her.  But as Aaron lays himself down in between Robert’s legs, his arms slipping beneath his back to pull them together - skin to skin, chest to chest - their tongues spelling unspoken promises out for eachother, he has a deep need to own this man in the way only he can.

He begins his slow descent down Robert’s body, the taunt tendons at his neck, the flat plane of his pecs, the jutting bone at his hips.  Robert shivers as he skims his hands over the fine hair of Robert’s thighs and calves.  His breath turns hot and heavy against Robert’s inner thigh as he licks his way back up, tracing a circuitous route that brings him within a tempting distance of Robert’s cock.

Aaron breathes deep, taking in the way he smells, the musk thick from their first round of lovemaking.  He can feel Robert’s need thrumming off him in the way his hips curl up off the bed with miniscule thrusts.  He rewards both himself and Robert with one long slow lick up the underside of his cock.  Robert sighs in gratitude.  Aaron gives him one slow pull of curled fist from base to tip.  One slip of his heavy length between his lips and past his teeth, over his undulating tongue before Aaron lowers his head, swallowing him down completely.

He gives himself over to sensation.  The pervasive taste of Robert on his tongue, awakening his taste buds and filling his mouth with spit.  The beautiful, breathless “So good, Aaron” and “God, don’t stop,” that tumbles out from Robert’s lips.  The ever growing burn in his own gut, his own hardness brushing against the cool sheets providing only minimal relief.

As Robert gets closer to the apex, just to the brink of no return, Aaron pulls off, pushing him back away from the edge before it is too late.  Robert takes several deep breaths, breathing slowly out through his mouth, heels of his hands pressed against his eyes.  Aaron works his hand slowly up and down his ample length, as he gives Robert time to gain a bit of control.  

“She do that to you?”

“What?” Robert spits, pushing up onto his forearms.

“Suck you that hard?”  Another pull of his cock.  “That good?”

A surprised puff of air escapes Robert lips, not a laugh, not a gasp but something in between.  His eyes flare with understanding as the tip of his tongue rests against the edge of his teeth.  “No.” It’s less a word than an exhaled breath.  He lets his head fall back.  “Never.”

Robert can’t see the smug look on Aaron’s face or the feeling of conquest that skitters under his skin.

“What about here?”  Aaron swirls one spit-slick finger against the furled opening of Robert’s ass.  “She brave enough to touch you there?”

“Why the fuck -” He begins, but when Aaron slips past the first tight ring of muscles his words are cut short by a sharp cry.  “No.  Never.  You know that.”  He manages, spreading his legs even wider for Aaron.

Aaron teases him, pushing his finger in and pulling it back out with slow movements.  He knows how even that small penetration feels: like your whole body is being invaded, so full you might choke, the slight uncomfort overwhelmed by the fact that it feels just too damn good.

“So she doesn’t know to touch you right…” Aaron crooks his finger, hitting Robert in that sweetest of spots. “Here.”  

He does it again.  The man nearly sobs.  

Aaron grabs for the lube, quickly making sure his fingers are amply plied, before returning them to Robert’s body.  He sinks into Aaron’s touch, stroking himself in rhythm with Aaron’s steady in and out.  A stream of vulgar, breathless curses tumble out of Robert’s mouth, spurring Aaron ever on.  

“Here,” Robert says a few moments later, thrusting the condom packet into Aaron’s face.  “Do it.”

“Do what?” Aaron demands, his fingers going still deep inside him.  His voice borders on the edge of being cruel but he needs to hear Robert say it.

“Fuck me,”  Robert demands without hesitation, his eyes glassy and resolute.

Aaron moves to hover over him, fitting his hips between Robert’s, his naked cock sliding against his lubed up ass.  “You want me inside you?”

Robert swallows, nods.  “Yes.”  The ‘s’ hisses long between his teeth.

Aaron readies himself, nearly trembling as he slides one hand under Robert’s ass, lifting it just enough off the bed to get the angle right.  He lets the weight of his body fall forward, sinking slowly into the solid heat of Robert’s body.

Robert curls his body up towards Aaron, clutching Aaron’s face between two hands, their foreheads touching.   Every inch of him is ridged, his mouth open in silent awe, his breath halted in his chest, his eyes clenched shut.  But all that changes the second Aaron begins to move.  He explodes with bliss.  His arms fall back, wide against the bed.  He groans deep and long.  The kisses he plants on Aaron’s mouth with are lavish and thick.

They move together, as if of one mind, creating something beautiful in the low-light of the bedside lamp.  It is amazing to feel this wanted by another man, to be gifted with the knowledge that there is no one else who can give this to him.  No one who is allowed to see him soul-naked and raw.  This is a fact for Aaron.  Something that none of the nay-sayers will ever be able to take away.  Something that not even that shining band can steal from him.

When Robert’s litany of words shift from encouraging _There, like that. Faster_. to those that are more sentimental _Feels so good, Aaron. I love this. Love you._ Aaron knows he’s nearly there.  

Redoubling his efforts, Aaron’s heart pounds as hard as his hips.  Their eyes meet as they charge up to the precipice together, Robert’s eyes dark and beautiful.  It takes tremendous courage not to look away in that moment where they both balance on the razors edge.  Their souls laid bare for one another by carnal satisfaction that could not be stopped even if they wanted it to be.  Aaron’s mind goes blissfully blank as they both fall to the other side, his heart thundering, his body singing.

He collapses, and Robert folds his arms around him, holding them close together, kissing his temple as breathes heavily through his nose. “That,” he pants.  “Was incredible.”   

Aaron huffs a pichless laugh as he rolls off, discarding of the condom and stretching.  Adrenaline courses quickly through him, rocking him with a head to toe shiver.  

Robert gets carefully off the bed.  He picks up an undershirt that had been hastily disposed of in their first round and wipes at his spunk covered abdomen.  “I’m a mess,” he says, abandoning his attempts to clean himself up.  “I’m going to take a shower.  Then it’s my turn.”

He makes a stop by the bed, kissing Aaron upside down before heading into the bathroom.

As the sound of the water rushing from the faucet fills his ears, Aaron settles himself back against the pillows.  He toys with his phone for a minute, checking Facebook and an uninteresting text from Adam.  Then he thinks about ordering room service or getting one of the beers he knows is waiting in the fridge.

But then Robert’s ring catches his eye.  He picks up the ring and looks it over.  It’s a simple band but heavy for it’s size.  He checks the inside for an inscription but doesn’t see one.   _Probably for the best, considering,_ he thinks, snickering to himself.  

Without knowing why exactly, and before he’s even really realized what he’s doing, Aaron slips the ring onto his left ring finger.  He holds his hand back, examining the piece of jewelry on his hand.  Thinking it looks a bit strange while at the same time wondering what it would be like if...

“You know, in your line of work a titanium band would probably be more practical, but platinum looks good on you too.”

Robert stands in the bathroom doorway, a bright white towel tied around his waist.

“Shit, Robert,” Aaron says, going pale with embarrassment.  “I’m so sorry.”  He frantically tries to get the ring off his finger only to realize it is stuck, unable to get over his first knuckle.  The more the pulls at the ring the more it seems to resist.

Robert comes to sit next to him, calmly taking Aaron’s hand in his.  

“It’s just I’ve never tried one on before.”

“It’s alright,” Robert says without a hint of disapproval.  Instead of trying to get it off, he plays with the ring, rocking it back and forth between both his thumbs.  He looks up, catching Aaron’s eye.

“You ever think about it?”

“What, getting married?”  Aaron asks, disgusted.  “No, I’m not much for that, I think.”

“No?”  Slowly, Robert begins to twist the ring on Aaron’s finger, gradually working it up over his bed-warm digit, easing it over his knuckle until it is finally off.  He drops it into his palm instead of putting it back on.

“With my mum’s track record.  With _us_ ,” Aaron adds glumly.  “Never understood why you needed a party and priest to prove to someone that you love them.”

“Yeah,” Robert says, eyes falling to his open hand.  “I suppose it does end up more like a business contract in the end.  One you can’t get out of even if the terms or conditions change.”

Aaron wants to ask if he ever regrets marrying Chrissy.  But then he decides he might not like the answer and this has been too good a night to ruin it now.

“I kind of proposed to Jackson once,” he says instead.

“You never told me that.”

“I’ve kind of only just remembered myself.”  

Aaron thinks about that day.  It had been one of the few times he’d seen Jackson truly happy after his accident.  They’d gone into Bar West, celebrating some other couple and their upcoming nuptials.  Jackson had bobbed his head along to the music, poking fun of Aaron in that biting/loving way he always had.  Even though he’d known what Jackson had planned on the horizon, on the taxi ride home Aaron had been unable to stop wondering if this one great act of love - Aaron Livesy, a married man - would change his mind.  

“It was right towards the end,” Aaron shakes his head sadly, eyes dropping.  The ache in his chest is less than it used to be at the thought of his first love, but it is still ever present.  “I was only 19. I think I would have done anything at that point if it meant we got him to stay with us a little while longer.”

Robert runs his hand up his thigh, squeezing his hip.  It is a touch of comfort and nothing more.   One that Aaron thanks him for with a tight smile.

“And now?” Robert asks, gently.  “If someone were to ask you. To promise you forever.  Sickness, health.  Good times, bad times.  Plenty and want.  Not be be able to run off if things got tough.  All that.  What would you say?”

“Why?  You offering?”  Aaron asks with a sadistic snort at the preposterous idea.  

Robert’s face, however, falls, suddenly pale with pain and regret.  What must it be like for him, Aaron wonders. To claim to love two people at once, even if in very different ways and for very different reasons.  It must be exhausting and terrifying to never truly be whole with either of them.

When he looks back to Aaron, his lips are pressed tight as he blinks back tears from his eyes.

“Sometimes I wish I could,” he says in one quickly exhaled breath.

If someone had told Aaron after that first kiss on the side of the road that he would ever hear such a sentiment from Robert he would have told them to go get their head checked.  

After everything they have been though - the breakups and deceit, the heartbreak and loss, the hurt and harm, the support and encouragement, the fucking and the laughing and the growth and the love - there is very little that Robert is capable of that would surprise him.  

But this does.

He kisses his lover tenderly, his blond locks still wet from the shower.  Then Aaron takes the ring from Robert’s open palm, turning his hand over so he can slide the ring back into place.  He lifts Robert’s hand to his lips, kissing the ring there.  They look at each other, neither missing the significance of the moment.

He was never meant to be anything more than a warm mouth to Robert yet time has given him so much more.  Aaron knows he owns Robert’s body.  He owns his trust and his honesty.  He knows at least part of Robert’s heart belongs to him, and piece by piece, day by day he can feel Robert give him more and more of that.  And now he even owns part of Robert’s wedding ring, knowing that Robert will never again be able to look at that platinum band - a symbol of his commitment to _her_ \- without thinking of _him_.  Of this night, these words, spoken and unspoken, and all they share.

As for all the rest?  

Aaron can wait.

  
  



End file.
